Wife Who Set Bomb Gets 18 Months

The Boynton Beach woman who admitted to planting a bomb under her husband's bed was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Thursday.

Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Richard Wennet also ordered Nayades Ortega be placed on 10 months' probation and have no contact with her husband.

Because Ortega was credited with 211 days she served in jail, she will be imprisoned for less than a year.

Ortega, who is out after posting a $10,000 bond, will not report to the state Department of Corrections until June 11 so she can attend her son's birthday party.

"Words cannot express how very sorry I am about the whole situation, what I put Elmer Rivera through, my family those families that were evacuated that night," Ortega, 26, said in court Thursday.

Wennet said he went below the sentencing guidelines because the plot to kill Rivera was done in "an unsophisticated manner" and because Ortega played a minor role in the plot. Wennet also said the woman was under "the domination" of her lover, Ricardo Diaz, when the crime was committed.

Wennet could have given Ortega the maximum sentence of life in prison for the attempted first-degree murder charge.

Rivera, who is now divorced from Ortega after four years, in the past told Wennet that he hopes Ortega is sentenced to probation, which shocked prosecutors and detectives.

Boynton Beach police arrested Ortega and Diaz in May 2000 after Rivera found the bomb under his bed when he returned from work.

Police said Ortega and Diaz told them they had been plotting to kill Rivera for two months. Ortega also told police she was looking to escape from an abusive marriage.

Diaz built the elaborate bomb that was triggered to explode when Rivera sat down on his bed, according to court documents. Ortega and Diaz, who had worked together, were having a yearlong affair, police said.

Rivera became suspicious when he noticed a patio door had been left open, found the bomb under his bed and called police.

A trial date has not been set for Diaz, who has pleaded not guilty.

WPTV Ch.-5 contributed to this report.

C. Ron Allen can be reached at crallen@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6611.